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Acer exec thinks iPad market share will fall to 20%

updated 08:00 am EDT, Mon August 23, 2010

by MacNN Staff

Acer chair convinced iPad will get minority share

Acer chairman JT Wang today predicted that Apple would drop to just 20 to 30 percent of the tablet market in the near future. The executive anticipated that the presence of both Acer's tablets and others to make the iPad a minority once the market 'settles.' Wang put most of his faith in Android and assumed that Google passing Apple in smartphones would repeat itself in the tablet arena, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily News.

Historically, more open platforms have eventually overtaken closed systems, Wang argued. The next highest after Android, RIM's BlackBerry, has been losing share, but Nokia has also been losing share despite the open-source nature of Symbian. Acer's leader saw Android primarily needing time to take its place.

The claims come as Acer itself may be delaying its tablet to 2011 in a market where most competitors have also had to move their devices to no earlier than the fall. Android tablets are arriving soon, such as the Velocity Micro Cruz Reader and Samsung Galaxy Tab, but differentiation may be an issue as many will have the same features and resolutions as smartphones but just in larger screen sizes and without the ability to make phone calls.

Apple, meanwhile, is believed to have near total mindshare as many customers are only aware of the iPad even if they know other competitors are available. The company is believed on track to sell several million iPads by the end of the year and may have a large head start on Acer and most of its competitors.

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A strange comment and possibly a stupid one. I suppose it's a predictable one, possibly paid for by Google, who knows. So Android may have more manufacturers to choose from, both on the smartphone and tablet market, but does that make it a better product? I don't think so. Apple had hundreds of iPod killers, where are they now, why does Apple still have over 70% of the mp3 player market, what sort of market share will Apple have when the iPad is available in all 78 countries, that iTunes is in? Android is OK, but definately not better than iOS4. The iPod, iPhone and iPad have defined the market, I expect all 3 products to dominate for years to come. I am happy for Android to be a major competitor, at least Microcopy won't be in the picture which is more important, they have nothing new to bring to the table, just rehashed copies of everyone's else's products.

As many of us know, there are 100's of thousands of iphone apps, many of which cost something, while there are 10's of thousands of ipad apps and many cost something and far less are free... On android the majority of all the apps are free. the problem here lies that when a tablet with android is released, there will probably be several size screens, processors, graphic excelerators ect. I find it hard to believe that all these developers will continue to keep their free. This is where android had done well so far, pushing all the free apps. But now apple has proven you can make money from selling apps and i feel that other developers will try to cash in.. The question then will be.. do you program for a device that is top dog or do you develop for the underdog?

He's in the business of selling products. Acer was caught flat footed without anything ready. AFAIK they still don't have anything shipping. This was a sop to the Acer stockholders. A 'don't worry, be happy someday we will have something out there, trust me it will be good too' to those that are wondering if they are doing anything.

However some day it may well come to pass. Apple could very well be selling 20% of the tablets someday when they've gone on to the next big thing which they will dominate.

Back in the dark ages of the 1990's the number one reason people had to not buy a Mac and go to Windows PC was the overwhelming amount of applications available on a PC. Sure a lot of those same apps did similar things but the most important developed for the larger PC market as well. The year is 2010 and Apple is first out of the gate with a mobile device that consumers actually want to buy. It is seamlessly integrated with the iTunes store and brings thousands of available apps and developers with it on launch day. This fact seems to be ignored by the pack of companies that plan "iPad killers". There will always be nerds that prefer the most open platform available so they may tinker to their hearts desire and only (buy) free, open source apps, not the best business model if you want to make money. The masses however want a product that just works and is expandable through app development. Developers will go with the platform that rewards their work with actual money and not just bragging rights.

from? I'm sure their just reaching up into their anuses and pulling it out. These arrogant pricks didn't even know that a consumer tablet market existed into Apple showed them it was there. Now, they're all boasting about how they're just going to step in and steal the market away from Apple. How much of the tablet market does Apple have right now? 95% maybe with currently a possible 4.5 million unit headstart and likely to have a 10 million unit lead by year's end. Not one rival tablet is in consumer's hands now.

What annoys me is that they're always bringing Apple into their discussions and how they're going to show Apple how it's done. They boast about how they're going to beat Apple. Why don't they just put out their tablets and show the world what they got. What Acer needs to do is just stick with those Windows netbooks that they thought were going to take over the world. Their tablets are going to be recycled netbooks with the keyboard removed and that's their plan to beat Apple.

I just wish these companies would stop their posturing and actually produce something instead of merely waving some prototype around before predicting the winner in the tablet market. It doesn't matter how many tablets Acer produces, Apple is going to make the most revenue from the tablet sector.

All these wannabe iPad 'competitors' seem to think that by using the Microsoft playbook... Announce it and someday it may come... to 'wow' and (hopefully) freeze the market, don't seem to get it. How can that possibly constitute a legitimate counter-strategy to Apple's iOS juggernaut?

All these companies frantically announcing mythical iPad killers (or iPad good-enoughs), essentially assemble computing devices and that's about it. They are Dell clones. They control nothing after the box leaves their assembly plants.

Apple's iOS infrastructure coupled with excellent design and products will be extremely hard to compete with. That doesn't even take Apple's huge mindshare into account. The top to bottom solidity of Apple's Whole Widget strategy really comes into focus when you see manufacturers announcing devices that will run someone else's OS and be able to use someone else's content.

How all this is supposed to come together for a satisfying, and hopefully seamless experience is anyone's guess.

As many of us know, there are 100's of thousands of iphone apps, many of which cost something,

No, not 'many'. Last time Apple mentioned, didn't they say something like 33% or so?

while there are 10's of thousands of ipad apps and many cost something and far less are free...

And where are you getting this information?

This is where android had done well so far, pushing all the free apps.

So, Apple users are OK spending money on apps (even though a majority are free), but Android users will balk and resist? Why? Just because it's based on Linux? Last I checked, iOS is based on OS X, which, in turn, is FreeBSD.

But now apple has proven you can make money from selling apps and i feel that other developers will try to cash in.. The question then will be.. do you program for a device that is top dog or do you develop for the underdog?

Since we're asking questions, can I ask one? "How come software developers are restricted to building software for only one device/OS?" Can't they just build for both? (Well, not as easily as on other platforms, of course, since Apple forces developers to develop natively for the iOS).

Back in the dark ages of the 1990's the number one reason people had to not buy a Mac and go to Windows PC was the overwhelming amount of applications available on a PC.

And Mac users kept claiming how that was just a load of c***, since how many different word processors or mail programs or to-do managers did you really need, since most were c*** anyway?

It is seamlessly integrated with the iTunes store and brings thousands of available apps and developers with it on launch day. This fact seems to be ignored by the pack of companies that plan "iPad killers".

Why do you say they are ignoring said fact? Just because they don't have their own iTMS, they must be ignoring it? BTW, when they do announce something like an AppStore, all you do is mock them for copying apple. Yet you say the only way to get it to work is to coy Apple.

There will always be nerds that prefer the most open platform available so they may tinker to their hearts desire and only (buy) free, open source apps, not the best business model if you want to make money.

I'm sorry, are the 'nerds' the programmers or the users? For I'm not sure why the user's care about the best business model, and I'm not sure why the programmers are buying free, open source apps.

The masses however want a product that just works and is expandable through app development. Developers will go with the platform that rewards their work with actual money and not just bragging rights.

So, what you're saying is that the only people who will buy anything Android are the nerds and geeks, and they'll never buy anything. And the only programmers working on it are there because they can go "Look at me, I'm programming on Android and can do whatever I want!"?

BTW, based on your argument, the only people buying Macs in the 90s were those who wanted bragging rights that they owned macs, and that they really should have just dumped them all and went to Windows. Since, h***, Windows was the market leader, what was the point of using any other technology?

This guy is sure talking up very big yet he hasn't said anything about his iPad killer yet. I predict it will be just another Windows 7 tablet like all the rest.
Wang, that won't cut it anymore. People find Windows annoying, slow, buggy and useless.
I predict the battery life on Acer will be 4 hours or less in real life.
Keep putting your foot in your mouth Wang, I'll be waiting for the reviews so you can swallow it.

I predict that I will win the lottery this year. Hopefully someone will publish that and make the lottery companies nervous! lol

History? When has the history of technology been useful for predicting the future? Doesn't he understand it's about what you want to do and what lets you do it? Flooding the market with products no one wants or can use no longer works! It's not a solution just because it's available for purchase!!

And seriously has anyone used Android? Why can't all apps work on all versions? It's a neat idea but it has a long way to go. And I'm not sure with it's open system it will get the oversight it needs... Apple's mix of an an easy to develop on platform with oversight is working...

"The company is believed on track to sell several million iPads by the end of the year and may have a large head start on Acer and most of its competitors."

Several million by the end of the year..... Nahhhhh, not possible. No one will buy that many iPads.... er..........wait........ last month I heard that Apple had already sold over 3 million and there is months to go before the end of the year.

When you got nothing.... FUD is the weapon of choice.

Just a thought.
en

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